Cover Crops and Soil Health
The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has identified four basic principles for maintaining and improving soil health: keep the soil covered; disturb the soil as little as possible; keep plants growing throughout the year; diversify crop rotations. Cover crops help accomplish these principles. Cover crops help reduce erosion, feed soil organisms from bacteria to earthworms, build soil organic matter, help cycle nutrients, reduce soil compaction, and improve soil aeration, infiltration, and structure.
Soil Health Testing
Soil testing can be helpful in helping producers understand what their land needs to function well. Soil fertility testing is a common practice to assess nutrient availability. Soil health testing is a more recent practice to help monitor soil health processes and indicators, including changes in soil structure, nutrient cycling, and water infiltration that might result from the use of cover crops.
NRCS Conservation Evaluation and Monitoring Activity 216
The NRCS Conservation Evaluation and Monitoring Activity 216 (CEMA 216) Soil Health Testing is a financial assistance opportunity for participants to hire Qualified Individuals or Technical Service Providers to provide quantitative testing for biological, chemical, and physical characteristics of soil using approved laboratory methods for all land uses. Learn more about CEMA 216 Soil Health Testing here.
Laboratories that Offer Soil Health Testing
This list of laboratories that offer soil health testing services was compiled to the best of our ability. If this information needs to be updated, please complete this form, available on the MCCC website. This document is meant to help producers select labs and help staff in supporting producer decision making. This is not meant to replace detailed information available from each lab itself, and prices are subject to change. If cost is not included for a particular lab or service, we were unable to find it. Inclusion on the list is not an endorsement of a particular lab or service.
Link to lab spreadsheet: prints on 11”x17”
Link to black and white spreadsheet: prints on 11′ x 17′ and black and white compatible
Soil Health Testing for NRCS CEMA 216
To meet the requirements for CEMA 216, at least one test in each of 5 categories must be performed (soil aggregate stability, soil organic carbon, microbial activity, labile carbon, and bioavailable nitrogen). Various labs may offer these and other tests in different packages which may be eligible for funding, and producers are responsible for confirming that lab packages meet their specifications.
The Standard Soil Health Testing suite of soil health indicator methods includes:
- Soil Aggregate Stability:
- Wet macro-aggregate stability (preferred) or
- Image analysis (alternate) or Cornell sprinkler infiltrometer (alternate)
- Soil organic carbon:
- dry combustion (preferred) or
- loss on ignition/soil organic matter (alternate)
- Soil respiration/microbial activity:
- 24 hour CO2 respiration (preferred) or
- 96 hour/4 day CO2 respiration (alternate)
- Labile carbon:
- Permanganate oxidizable carbon (POXC) (preferred) or
- Water extractable organic carbon (WEOC) (alternate)
- Bioavailable nitrogen:
- Autoclaved citrate extractable (ACE) protein (preferred) or
- Water extractable organic nitrogen (WEON)
Also Required for Standard and Advanced Testing:
- Soil pH:
- 1:1 water extraction (preferred) or
- 0.01M CaCl2 extraction (alternate)
- Soil texture:
- KSSL Particle size distribution analysis (preferred) or
- Hydrometer Method (alternate)
Advanced Soil Health Indicator Methods
Advanced Soil Health testing includes additional microbial diversity/functional diversity testing.
If an advanced soil health test with additional microbial/functional diversity information is desired, choose one of the methods below
- Microbial diversity using phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) (preferred)
-OR-
- Enzyme activity Choice of three of the following:
- β-Glucosidase (Carbon Cycling)
- N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (Carbon and Nitrogen Cycling)
- Protease (Nitrogen Cycling)
- Acid and/or Alkaline Phosphatase (Phosphorus Cycling)
- Arylsulfatase (Sulfur Cycling)
Done in collaboration with Minnesota NRCS
Updated: April 2026